Khaberni - Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet, facilitated the use of its advertising technology by publishers and advertisers online, thereby challenging the European Union's antitrust bodies’ call to sell off parts of the company to address the issue of conflicting interests.
Regulatory bodies on both sides of the Atlantic target Google's ownership of tools used by advertisers and publishers, in addition to the "AdX" advertising exchange platform, which mediates advertising transactions, according to "Reuters".
The European Commission, which acts as the antitrust body in the European Union, imposed a fine on Google of 2.95 billion euros ($3.4 billion) in September for favoring its own services for online advertising display technologies to reinforce the central role of the "AdX" platform.
The Commission clarified that this behavior harmed competitors, advertisers, and publishers, and granted the company until November to provide measures to end conflicts of interest in the ad tech supply chain, with the possibility of selling off part of the company's business in this area.
Google said on Friday that it had presented its proposal to the relevant European body, which is very similar to the proposal it made during an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into the same matter.
The company stated in a blog post: "Our proposal fully addresses the decision of the European Commission without destructive dismantling that could harm thousands of European publishers and advertisers who use Google tools to grow their businesses."
It added: "Our plan includes immediate product changes to end the specific practices objected to by the Commission. For example, we now give publishers the option to set different minimum prices for different bidders when using Google Ad Manager."
The company also proposed increasing the interoperability of its tools with other systems to give publishers and advertisers more options and flexibility.
Sources previously told Reuters that the relevant European body might issue a dismantling order at a later stage if Google continues its anti-competitive practices, based on a past case with "Microsoft" about two decades ago.
The European Union case resembles the U.S. Department of Justice case which demands that Google sell the "AdX" platform. The company said this would be technically impractical and would lead to prolonged uncertainty for advertisers and publishers. This case is now before an American court.
